Aloha
Aloha is an unincorporated community in Grays Harbor County, Washington. History The community was named after the Hawaiian-language word aloha. In 1906, the Aloha Lumber Company was started by Ralph Emerson and his college friend, Wilfred Dole of the Dole Pineapple Company in Hawaii. At that time, the only access to this new town was by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The railroad had completed the line from Hoquiam to Moclips in 1905. After World War I, Frank Milward from the east coast came west by train and landed in Hoquiam. He had heard of the many job opportunities in Chehalis County (now Grays Harbor County). After arriving in Hoquiam, Frank Milward stopped at the office of a mill where he met both Emerson and Dole. Although Frank had little experience with lumber mills, they were impressed with his other abilities and convinced him to come to work at the Aloha Lumber Company. Upon arriving at Aloha, Frank noticed how most of the virgin forests from Hoquiam to the coast had not been touched. After settling in to his new job and small cabin, he sent for his wife to come join him from back east. She arrived several weeks later in the middle of the night. Frank recalled in his autobiography, "In the Span of a Lifetime" that he had fallen asleep at the mill while waiting for her arrival. It was dark when the engineer of the Northern Pacific dropped her off about a mile east of the mill. Since Frank was no where to be seen, the NP crew tried to convince Mrs. Milward to go to Moclips where she could stay overnight at any of the hotels in town. She thanked them but turned down their offer. So with luggage in hand, she followed the tracks in the pitch darkness among a towering virgin forest in search of her husband. When the train sped past the mill, Frank awoke and realized his error in falling asleep. He high-tailed it down the track and found his wife. Frank Milward worked for the Aloha Lumber Company for several decades becoming the manager. In the 1950's he began designing a bridge system to span the wild Quinault River. By the end of that decade, not one but two specially designed truss bridges had been built across the river. The second was called the Chow Chow Bridge. Both bridges were built without pilings to keep the raging winter flows from damaging the bridge. Over the many decades that the Aloha Lumber Company was in operation, it suffered through many devastating fires and economic downturns. The mill was bought out by Evans Products and eventually closed for good. The Aloha Tavern, a popular coastal icon, began business in the 1920's. It is still in operation today. The building just to the east of the tavern was once the home of the Aloha Post Office. The post office closed in 1979 and all mail was sent to the Pacific Beach post office. Geography Category:Cities & Towns Category:Grays Harbor County Category:Washington State Wiki